Lough Gur near Bruff, Co. Limerick

Lough Gur Development Co-operative Society Tel +353 (0)61 385386 Website is http://www.loughgur.com

Opening Times

As of June 2011, the Lough Gur Visitor Centre will be managed and operated by the Lough Gur Development Co-Operative Society. Their Website is http://www.loughgur.com. Email: honeyfitz@loughgur.com. The secretary can be contacted at +353 (0)61 385386 or +353 (0) 28520022

Lough Gur is one of Ireland’s most important archaeological sites. You will be captivated by the beauty, charm and tranquillity of this ancient place.

The visitor centre tells the story of Pre-Celtic Ireland dating back to 3000 BC. The interpretation includes a slide show, imaginative exhibition models and interpretative panels.

Highlights of a visit include:

- Remains of a small farmstead which was built on this natural platform about 900 AD
- Replicas of Stone Age Pottery and other artefacts depicting the life-styles of the first inhabitants of the area.
- Replica of the Bronze Age Lough Gur Shield now on exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland.
- Replicas of the Chalice and Paten of the Countess of Bath.
- Historical information on the geology, botany and social history of Lough Gur.

With its lake sheltered by limestone hills, this tranquil place of pre-historic mystery and story is notable for the variety of bird life as well as for its wealth of antiquities. The story of the Pre-Celtic settlers stretches back over 5,000 years and continues to the present day in the people who still farm and dwell in the valley. It is an archaeological site of outstanding significance. The visitor centre was built in 1980 and uses two of the excavated Stone Age houses as its floor plan: House sites A, rectangular, and house site C, circular. Its roofs are thatched and wattle hurdle fences surround the building.

The centre houses a number of display cases telling the story of the manufacture and use of flint and bronze material and their eventual deposition in the area as well as their recovery - whether as a result of scientific excavation or random finds.

There are replicas of Stone Age pottery as well as other artefacts depicting the lifestyles of the first inhabitants of Lough Gur.

Two further cases house the following:

The replica of the Bronze Age Lough Gur Shield exhibited at the ‘Treasures of an Island’ exhibition in the Cognac Museum in 1997 and now on display in the National Museum in Dublin.
The replicas of the Countess of Bath Chalice and Paten with which the church (situated on the lakeshore) was endowed shortly after its consecration for Anglican worship in the late 16th century.

There are a total of 9 new information panels. Two of the panels are mounted on the side of the display cases and give information on archaeological research in Lough Gur.

A further 6 panels give information on the following:

Geology of the area
Lough Gur Botany
Zoology of the area
Archaeology of Lough Gur
Celtic Festivals
Lough Gur Folklore

The final panels deal with the social history of Lough Gur including famous local emigrants such as the parents ‘Honey’ Fitzgerald (Rose Kennedy’s father), Boss Croker and his influence on New York politics and Standish O’Grady, a barrister at the trial of Wolfe Tone.

Incidentally, it was during the course of excavation work at Lough Gur that John Hunt, Archaeologist and Art Historian, conceived the idea of recreating the crannog or lake-dwelling which is still visible from the Lake shore, and the concept led to the creation of the Craggaunowen ‘The Living Past.